The Fourth Of July
by Jingle101
Summary: It's the Fourth of July at the Central Park Zoo! This is my first Skipper and Marlene story so please don't laugh!


It was the Fourth of July. That meant that the zoo would be closed and all the animals were free to roam around as they pleased. The penguins were planning a long day of training, experimenting, and calculating. Of course, the day didn't go as they planned.

"Helloooo neighbors!" King Julien appeared in the head quarters, somehow avoiding their security system. He was closely followed by Mort and Maurice.

"Hi!" Mort popped up from behind him. Maurice just stood there with a bored expression on his face.

"Julien!? What are you doing in here? Get out now! We have training to do." Skipper stopped lecturing Private on the proper fighting stance and turned to shoo away the annoying lemur 'king'.

"Ooooo! What kind of training?"

"That's classified information."

"I am the king here! Nothing is classified from me. Now tell me!" Skipper let out a big sigh and turned back to Private.

"You can go now soldier. I'll finish with you later."

"Yes Skippah!" Private waddled over to where Kowalski and Rico were fixing a leaky window. Rico coughed up some duct tape and Kowalski shook his head then started scribbling in his notepad. Skipper glanced back towards the door and saw that Julien and his followers were still standing there. By the expression on his face, Julien had already forgotten what they were talking about.

"Did you not hear me lower mammal? I said get out!"

"Nobody bosses me around!"

"I'm going to slap you into the middle of next week!"

"If there's any slapping to be doing, it will be I who is – "

"Hey guys, watcha doing?"

"Marlene? Not you too. Can't a penguin get any privacy?"

"Oh sorry. I didn't know I was interrupting anything."

"Boys! It's time to resume training. Now everyone else get out!"

"Fine. I can see that you are not wanting us here. Then we shall be leaving. Come Maurice." With a flick of his tail, Julien marched out of the habitat followed by Mort and Maurice. Marlene didn't seem to notice everyone watching her, waiting for her to leave too.

"So, are you guys planning on watching the fireworks tonight?" Kowalski, Rico, and Private all nodded their hands enthusiastically but Skipper was thinking otherwise.

"That's a negatory Marlene. We have more important matters to attend to." The rest of the crew dropped their heads in disappointment.

"Kaboom?" Asked Rico sadly.

"Aww come on Skipper. Everyone else wants to see them." Skipper turned around and watched as his teammates tried to put on their best smiles.

"Oh I guess one night off wouldn't hurt anybody."

"Good, I'll see you later then." She turned and walked out the door. She was slightly blushing under her fur. Skipper stayed to watch her leave a little longer than he should have. When he turned back around, everyone was watching him.

"You like her don't you Skippah?"

"What are you talking about Private?" Rico made a weird purring noise and Skipper started to blush a little too. Thank goodness for feathers.

"Actually Skipper, there's a…" Kowalski started scribbling in his notepad again. "87% chance that you like Marlene."

"And where exactly did you pull that number from?" Kowalski opened his mouth to speak again but stopped when he noticed the death glare that Skipper was giving him. He quickly looked away and pretended to write something. "That's what I thought. Now, back in fighting position!" They all jumped into their positions but Private stumbled and fell over. Skipper slapped his forehead and went over to lecture him again.

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Back at the otter habitat, Marlene was sitting on her bed daydreaming. She couldn't wait for that night when all the fireworks came out. It was a zoo tradition that all the animals would go meet in the zoo's biggest park to watch them. Marlene planned on going to sit by Skipper. Even he ought to know a romantic moment when he sees it. Chills shot down her back just thinking about him. She decided to get herself ready in order to make the day go by faster.

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Later that night, everyone was gathering at the park and picking their spots. Marlene could barely contain her excitement when she saw the penguins sitting on a picnic table towards the back. Skipper was sitting on the outside which left a place for her right next to him. Just as she had hoped. Julien was nowhere to be seen which made everything even better.

"Hey guys!" She jumped up onto the table. For once, she wasn't nearly attacked for surprising them.

"Hello Marlene." They all said at once. She casually sat down next to Skipper. The other three penguins were watching them intently. Skipper turned and glared at them all, causing them to quickly look away. Once the fireworks started, they all seemed to calm down a little bit. All the animals sat quietly and watched. They were already about half way over when Marlene realized that Skipper was watching her. As soon as she made eye contact with him, he turned away. Now was the perfect time to make her move. She scooted closer to him and placed her paw on his flipper. He tried to pull it away but she held on. He looked straight into her eyes and she smiled. There was a slight smile tugging at the edge of his beak. After a while Marlene laid her head on his shoulder. Skipper leaned towards her and put his flipper around her. This caught the attention of the others and they quietly slipped away, leaving the two alone. The fireworks seemed to go by much too fast for the two of them. When they were over, the two sadly pulled apart.

"I had a great time tonight Skipper."

"Me too Marlene, me too."

"It's getting late, I better head back." She quickly kissed him softly on his cheek. "Bye Skipper." With a small wink, she jumped off the table and started walking away. Skipper let out a big sigh and watched her go until she was out of sight. Kowalski, Private, and Rico jumped back up onto the table.

"Come on boys, time to head home."

"You do like her… don't you Skippah?" Skipper turned and looked at all their awaiting faces. He knew it wouldn't do any good to try and lie.

"Yes Private. I do like Marlene."

_Author's note: This is my first Skilene story so please don't laugh! It's dedicated to Porsche101 for encouraging me and helping me out when I wanted to quit. Happy Birthday Porsche!_


End file.
